RSS Data: February Warmest Month

Global atmospheric temperatures in February as measured by satellite instruments and analysed by RSS shows that it was the warmest month since satellite monitoring began – following on from the warmest December and warmest January on record.

February 2016 was warmest month on record in terms of atmospheric temperatures measured by satellite, according to data released by US firm Remote Sensing Systems (RSS).

The mean global temperature anomaly – or variance to the long term average – for the lower troposphere during February was +0.98oC sharply up from +0.66oC in January.

Global atmospheric temperatures last month – like those in 1998 and 2010 – were driven up by an El Niño Pacific Ocean warming event but the data also shows unusual warming in the northern polar region.

The RSS result for January 2016 agrees with a different analysis of satellite data by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). Both analyses rank the global anomaly in February as warmest month in the satellite era.

Warmest months (1979 – 2016)

(Warmer than seasonal norms – anomaly oC)

Year

Month

Anomaly oC

2016

2

0.9781

1998

4

0.8573

1998

2

0.736

1998

5

0.6672

2016

1

0.6655

1998

7

0.6052

2010

3

0.5853

1998

3

0.5852

2010

1

0.5849

1998

8

0.5719

Warmest Februaries (1979 – 2016)

(Warmer than seasonal norms – anomaly oC)

Year

Month

Anomaly oC

2016

2

0.9781

1998

2

0.736

2010

2

0.5108

2002

2

0.453

2005

2

0.3412

2007

2

0.3328

2015

2

0.3242

2004

2

0.321

1999

2

0.317

2003

2

0.316

Global temperature map for the lower troposphere in February 2016. Courtesy: RSS

Recent trend in monthly average global temperatures for the lower troposphere. Courtesy: RSS

Long term trend in monthly average global temperatures for the lower troposphere since 1979. Courtesy: RSS

RSS global land and sea anomaly data for the lower troposphere since January 2014.